Valvoline NextGen Recycled Oil - My Experience and Review

Discussion in 'Other Automotive Tech & Talk' started by mercgt73, Feb 19, 2012.

  1. mercgt73

    mercgt73 Member

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    I recently used this oil and thought I would offer my feedback. It is kind of a long winded situation, OK... very long winded, but I wanted to give as much background as I could. And I like telling stories. :)

    Background
    My daily commuter car is a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx with the 3.5L V6. It currently has about 215,000 miles on it, which are all highway miles. It's a great car and consistently gets me 28-30 MPG year round. I perform very regular maintenance, fix what breaks and otherwise keep it clean and running well. After all, it gets me back fourth during my 5-days a week, 120 mile, round trip commute, including occasional trips on the weekends and around town driving. I do not have any fluid leaks and I clean the engine regularly to make it easier to spot leaks if they develop.

    My oil changes get performed between 3,500 and 4,500 miles apart with the recommended 5W30. I always buy 6 quarts of whatever API rated oil is one sale, which has included Quaker State, Valvoline and Advanced Auto brand oil. I do not stick to any particular brand.

    I do not keep exact track of the oil change mileage anymore, I let the on-board Oil Life Monitor remind me. In the beginning when I bought the car with 14,000 miles, I kept better track of the mileage and it was very consistent with the Monitor. My oil changes happen every 4 to 5 weeks, so this is pretty much routine for me.

    Also, it is normal for my engine to consume between 1/2 and 1 quart of oil between oil changes. This is fine, given the high mileage. If you ask a GM engineer, which I have done in the past as an ASE GM technician, they will say that 1 quart of consumption between oil changes is allowable. Who knows. All I know is that my plugs come out very clean when I check them. I am a firm believer in spark plug reading. I mean, I'm approaching a quarter of a million miles now. I will allow up to a quart of consumption.

    Get To It Already

    So, to get to the point, about 3 weeks ago I pulled into my local USPS store to ship off some new quarter window seals (nice plug, huh?). As soon as I put the vehicle in PARK, my oil pressure warning light popped on. I immediately shut the engine off and decided to get my package off before investigating. Returning to my car, I popped the hood and started looking around. I figured I had sprung a serious leak and lost a lot oil. But there was no sign of a serious issue, no puddles, or anything. I pulled the dipstick to check the level... and it came out dry. Oh crap. So I walked two blocks to a gas station and bought 4 quarts of whatever 10W30 oil they had on the shelf (they did not have the usual 5W30 that I use). After adding almost 4 quarts of oil, I got the oil back up to the FULL mark. I started the engine... no more Oil Pressure Warning light.

    I carefully drove it the 5 miles home, eyeballing the Oil Pressure Warning light area the whole way. I also began to think... did I notice any new smells, new sounds, or anything out of the ordinary over the past few weeks? I checked the Oil Life Monitor, it showed I still had another 15% remaining until the next oil change was due. Then it hit me, the last oil change I had done included the Valvoline NextGen 5W30 recycled oil. I remembered it was on sale at the time and that I thought I would give it shot. Hmmm....

    I knew I had to take the car to shop and check into this, so I decided to do an oil change ahead of schedule. That way, I could monitor my oil level during the next week to see if I was losing oil at a fast rate. The next day I swung by the parts store on my way to the shop. I picked up all the stuff I needed to do an oil change, including my usual 5W30 on sale oil. This time, making sure NOT to get any recycled oil. I drove to the shop, put it up on the lift, and started investigating. I noticed that I had 2-3 drops of honey colored oil coming from my oil filter adapter housing and wet oil residue around my oil pan gasket area. I also had a drop oil hanging off of my oil filter. Interesting, as these are all NEW leaks. I drained the oil, which was not excessively dark or discolored, replaced my oil filter and completely cleaned off the engine. I lowered the car down, added my new 5W30, started it up, shut it off and topped of the oil exactly to the FULL mark... my usual routine.

    Today
    Since, then I have checked the oil weekly and visually inspected the areas where my leaks had developed. No problems. As of today, it has been about 2000 miles since that last oil change. I just re-checked my oil level this morning. It is about 1/4" below the full mark. This would equate to about 1/2 quart low for my dipstick readings. Also, no signs of drips or wet areas on the engine. I would consider these observations normal and back to what I am used to.

    Hindsight
    I wish when I did the last oil change, that I had pulled the spark plugs. It would have been nice to see some signs of oil consumption. I don't know why I didn't, I guess I was hung up on the new oil leaks. Alas, I did not, so I kick myself for that. If I pull them now, I cannot be certain of their previous condition.

    Conclusions
    My hypothesis is that the recycled oil, though rated at 5W30, in fact reduced its viscosity over time. The oil did not visually show signs of failure (it was not discolored or black). Now, was this event affected by the high mileage of my engine? Could be. I cannot say either way on that. It is possible that in a lower mileage engine the oil would have acted differently. I understand that there are a lot of variables, but given my situation and my results after my premature oil change, this is the best guess I can give. Could I use the 10W30 or 15W30 versions (if available) of NextGen without issue? Maybe, but I am not gonna test it.

    Needless to say, I will be sticking to my non recycled 5W30 oil from here on out. NextGen may be great for the environment and even competitively priced. But for my Malibu, it is not the ticket. I am not condemning NextGen, just food for thought. Thanks for reading! :cool:
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2012
  2. blugene

    blugene Senior member Supporting Member

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    I felt like I was reading a Rock Auto newsletter article lol.
    I don't stray from my O Reiley 10-30 High Mileage oil no matter the cost. BUT, I usually buy in bulk on sale anyway. I try to have three or four oil changes on the shelf..
    I bet that Next Gen stuff has some very thin stuff in it and that is what creates seeps to leaks.
     
  3. Craig Selvey

    Craig Selvey Indiana State Rep - MCCI

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    I have a similiar daily driver situation: 2005 Ford Focus Wagon. 215,000 miles, I change the oil about every 5000 miles, which is about every 5 or 6 weeks.

    I use Ford Motorcraft Semi-Senthetic. I was using Valvoline Durablend, but I found that the Motorcraft was cheaper.

    Bottom line on recycled oil for ME.....it has to be at least HALF the price (or more) of conventional oil or I would not even consider it. When I looked into it....it was pretty much the same price. If that is the case, what's in it for me?
     
  4. darren

    darren Member

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    Ive had similar experience with synthetics and recycled. Some engines just seem to drink it. My 3.5 in my 02 300m for example. The 3.5 was always a bit of an oil consumer but real bad on synthetic. I suggest my 3.5 customers stay away from that and recycled oils. My 3.5 will use 3-4 liters between an oil change with synthetic. Maybe 1-1.5 liters with non synthetic. Its done this since new and so have many of my customers with same engine. Its just the way it is. I say find what your engine seems to run best on and stick to it.
    But yes I have seen the recycled oil fail real fast.
     
  5. simple man

    simple man Member

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    I used to use recycled oil in my old Vega. It burned more oil than gas!:rofl2: I also felt that the recycled oil was thinner than the same weight rating with new oil. I don't remember the name, I think it was Imperial, but it came in a glass bottle with a metal funnel for a cap. A very handy packaging design!
    I now use" Pennzoil High mileage " in both the Maverick and the Ranger. It keeps the engine clean and stays in longer. I also use Wix or Napa ( made by Wix ) filters. I couldn't get my fuel filter through Wix this last time so I used a Purolator.
    Well, everyone have a good Sunday! (y)
    It looks like we're finally going to get some rain! We need it bad! :thumbs2:
     
  6. ford84stepside

    ford84stepside Lone Wolf

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    Here's something to consider about recycled or re-refined oil, where did the original oil come from, and what was in it? I know in our company truck shop, they have a collection tank. Everything from motor oil to trans oil to rear gear oil goes into the tank. I would guess that even some anti freeze makes it into the tank. Now with all those different types of oil, some mineral, some synthetic, getting mixed into the same tank, not to mention the microscopic metal particles from engine wear in them, how do they get all that stuff out and clean again? Not saying that it can't be done, but I do wonder if it's as clean as they claim it is.
    I have used it myself in an emergency, or on an engine that consumes a lot of oil just to get by, but I will not use it on a regular basis. I just don't trust it. It might be fine, but I'll stick with my Pennzoil. Never had a engine failure from a oil related problem with it.
     
  7. injectedmav

    injectedmav Member

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    I think a lot of the cut rate shops and oil change places around here use recycled oil and coolant in addition to putting whatever filter they have that will screw onto the engine regardless of factory required size or design. I have also found that consumption is much higher with recycled in as little as 1000 miles. I suspect that it tends to vaporize at a much greater rate allowing the PCV system to suck it up and burn the stuff as if it were a 2-stroke. I have also run my own little experiment with bulk vs bottled Motorcraft semi-synthetic blend in my wife's Expedition and I found that the rate of consumption was about 2:1 bulk:bottled. And that's just a difference in source. I don't know for sure where our bulk was coming from at the time, they just told us it was the same. I call BS and use bottled oil in her truck(Motorcraft SS blend) and whatever I get on sale in the Maverick(150K mile 5.0l) and High mileage on sale in the Toyota P/U(200k miles). I use ONLY manufacture specific filters for all of my vehicles.(my preference due to some experience with timing chain issues with oil fed tensioners in the Expedition and the Toyota)
     
  8. mercgt73

    mercgt73 Member

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    Thanks for the replies, seems a lot of other people have had similar experiences to mine. Some good points brought up also.
     

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